North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor - IV, 4

This is a beautiful mountain that guards the entrance to Glen Coe. The summit is the North East peak of a line of summits, Stob Dearg or known simply as The Buachaille.

North Buttress is a mixed route as the name implies, with the crux climbing all being found in the first 4 pitches. It is possible to abseil off after the difficult climbing or to continue to the summit. The first time that I climbed it was in the winter of 2008 with friend Bryn. There had been a great deal of snow over the previous days and so we decided that a buttress route was in order. An early start on a day off saw us plugging through the fresh snow to the fot of the route. We were both slightly twitchy about the possibilty of avalanche and so had decided in advance that we would abseil off after the crux pitches. We lead alternate pitches and enjoyed a the physical nature of the climbing in a series of chimneys. The snow kept falling as we climbed adding to the feeling of an exciting day out!

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